


I Need Your Touch

by QueenOfNewOrleans22



Category: Def Leppard
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:06:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28732416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfNewOrleans22/pseuds/QueenOfNewOrleans22
Summary: Truth be told, Joe was bloody out of it, and so he didn't immediately hear the yelling coming from the other room. No, far from it. Instead, Sav was too wrapped up on his present task of writing down a grocery list (a loving gesture, he thinks, to show her how much he loves her) to flinch when the door slammed open, and it took him a full minute to look up.
Relationships: Joe Elliott/Rick Savage
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	I Need Your Touch

Truth be told, Joe was bloody out of it, and so he didn't immediately hear the yelling coming from the other room. No, far from it. Instead, Sav was too wrapped up on his present task of writing down a grocery list (a loving gesture, he thinks, to show her how much he loves her) to flinch when the door slammed open, and it took him a full minute to look up. 

Sav looked wild - crazy eyes and clenched fists - his hair a wild mess atop his head. For a moment, he looked like he was about to kick a nearby drum set but instead settled for just standing there. The sight was unusual. Sav wasn't an angry person, nor did he really express any emotions besides his usual happy self, like nothing bothered him. 

Joe stared at him for a moment, blinked, and then glanced down to see that he might've not been startled, but his pen had, and now there was a straight line of black ink on the table. He wiped at it, but it was still wet and the motion only made it smear. "Are you alright, Sav?" Joe asked. 

"Am I - are you - " Sav broke off, biting his bottom lip, looking around the room for anybody lingering. When there proved to be nobody, Sav fixed his bright eyes at the other man. " _Have you gone off the deep end?"_ He hissed.

Confused, Joe could only stare, feeling like something had happened and he wasn't in the loop. "Meaning...?" He said slowly. 

A frustrated groan broke from Sav's lips, and he tossed his hands in the air, as if asking up for The Heavens to help him out. As if he were dealing with an impudent idiot. Sav closed his eyes, and then rubbed them with his thumbs. "You don't seem to find anything wrong with the _bloody ring of your finger?!"_

Time slowed down, and then it seemed to still completely, like Joe was a mannequine with the ability to walk, but only when nobody was looking. He felt realization dawn on him like the incoming sun, and he cursed himself for, yes, being an impudent idiot. 

"Oh, love." Joe sighed, looking down at the golden band. 

"Don't call me that." Sav snapped. "You don't have that - that right." He was stressed, stumbling over his words like a clumsy child who was just beginning to learn how to walk. He crossed his arms, looking tearful and angry and betrayed. 

All of those emotions, Joe figured, he was entitled to feel. After all, Joe hadn't asked him about anything pertaining to the things that had lead up to the ring on his finger. "Well, Sav." The name felt heavy on Joe's tongue. "It won't be any different. She's just a bloody groupie with extra steps. We need this - " He motioned to the space between them. "- to be secret, remember?" 

Sav's face twisted. He looked like he was about to cry. "Yes, but you promised to always tell me about these things! Girlfriends are a lot different than wives." He looked away, looking torn between just storming out and staying. Sav's foot lingered in the threshold of the door, uncertain. 

"I know. I'm sorry, I should've consulted with you." Joe stood up, his list forgotten on the table. He felt like he was a hunter cornering a spooked deer. "She is my face, remember? My public face." 

"This isn't _fair."_ Sav said. "She deserves to be with you and I deserve to be with you but it's all a _mess!"_ He looked down and withdrew from Joe when he saw the golden band. 

Joe's heart ached. He took the ring and stuffed it into his pocket. This was all his fault, and now, he had a suspicious fiance and a heartbroken lover. This whole mess wasn't Karla's fault, nor was it Sav's. Joe cursed his cowardice, but figured that this was better for the band - for Phil and Rick and Steve - to not be dragged through the mud with the implications. 

It still hurt, though, when Joe pulled Sav into an embrace and the other man was stiff, like a piece of cardboard, unrelenting and rigid. Hard. Tense. But Sav buried his face in the crook of Sav's neck, anyways, seeking for comfort even when he probably wanted to yell at Joe until his vocal chords gave out on him. 

But Sav wrapped his arms around Joe's torso, anyways. "I just want to be with you but it's all so bloody difficult." He sobbed. 

Joe nodded. "We'll figure out a way. Maybe I ask Karla to have a little private wedding." He thought about it for a moment, debating about whether or not it was plausible to help avoid Sav having to go through a wedding. 

"Please don't say her name." Sav whispered. 

It felt like a plea, a desperate request. Joe nodded, squeezing Sav in silent apology, feeling like the whole world was beginning to close around him. He didn't know what he was supposed to do - save face, or save Sav? It was a question that Joe didn't want to answer, but knew that he couldn't avoid, and sooner or later, he would need to choose. Joe wanted Sav, but had he built this life, all for nothing? Had it all been to just fall down? 

As if he could hear Joe's thoughts (at this point, it wouldn't be surprising), Sav started to cry. His shoulders shook and his heart beat harshly against his ribcage, like a scared rabbit who had been snared in a trap. Joe didn't say anything, only held him tighter. 


End file.
